Microsoft's bid to follow Apple's lead by selling Surface tablets only through retail has missed the mark, Majdi Daher, founder and CEO of Denali Advanced Integration, a Redmond, Wash.-based Microsoft partner, told CRN.

That said, Apple sold 14.6 million iPads during the quarter, while Wall Street analysts were expecting it to sell around 18 million iPads.

This unexpected slowdown, and Google's inability to penetrate the enterprise and commercial tablet markets, shows that Microsoft still has an opportunity with Surface tablets, Daher said.

"Microsoft is well positioned to gain significant share in that space, but only if they create a partner program that enables companies like us to take that strategy to the enterprise and commercial space," said Daher.

"The overriding problem with Surface was that no one wanted Windows RT, as it can't run the millions of existing Windows apps," Marc Harrison, president of Silicon East, a Manalapan, N.J.-based Microsoft partner, said in an email.

In the town hall, Ballmer also confirmed that Microsoft is testing new Surface devices with "incremental improvements," according to The Verge, which has previously reported that these devices will run on Qualcomm's new Snapdragon 800 processor.

Microsoft couldn't be reached for comment on the topics reportedly discussed at the town hall meeting.

There's a case to be made that Microsoft's distribution strategy for Surface tablets is behind some of the problems. Microsoft initially sold Surface tablets only through retail, and last month extended its scope to include 10 large account resellers in the U.S.